Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that Greece would get “hundreds of millions of Euros every year” for bringing Russian gas into the EU. Gazprom’s goal is to establish a new entry point to Europe bypassing the traditional route through Ukraine. Panagiotis Lafazanis, the Greek energy minister, announced last week that Athens may repay the advance provided by Moscow once the “Turkish Stream” extension becomes operational in 2019.

As Europe is seeking sources of natural gas to serve as an alternative for the politically sensitive Gazprom supply, a massive gas source presents itself for exploration and production. Whether this will happen or not depends on Turkey, a potential transit country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently announced the cancellation of the $20 billion South Stream natural gas pipeline. In its place, Russia will build a natural gas hub on the Turkish-Greek border.